Bengaluru: The Manchester of South India revealed itself in full glory on Sunday. This city prides itself in the fact that it can rain at any venue but have a dry run just 500 metres away. Showers that were predicted in the afternoon kept away but the skies opened up just on cue as the Royal Challengers Bangalore began their chase. Of the seven matches at home, six have been affected by rain, of course, to varying levels of result.
(Photo: BCCI)
Having all but secured the playoffs following the win over Sunrisers Hyderabad, Virat Kohli’s men were gunning for a top-two spot in their final league game. As it transpired, Kohli, having sent in the Daredevils into bat, saw them rustle up a formidable 187 for five with the South African left-handers Quinton de Kock (69, 39b) and JP Duminy (67 n.o., 43b) powering the visitors.
The Challengers finished with 16 points with seven wins, five losses and two washouts; a win here would have helped them seal the second qualifier spot but given the scenario, Kohli & Co. will take what they are offered and head to Pune for the Eliminator and not look a gift horse in the mouth, especially after the Protean show in the afternoon.
. @henrygayle probably giving a trailer of what's to follow in sometime - @yuvstrong12 #IPL https://t.co/jC2DuOYcze
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) May 17, 2015
(Photo: BCCI)
Opener De Kock showed an uncluttered mind and a strong pair of hands as he swung merrily to take a heavy toll on the home bowlers. Taking an instant liking to Ashok Dinda, the left-handed Protean raised 55 for the opening wicket with Shreyas Iyer (20, 18b) before coming into his own in the company of his skipper.Kohli rotated his bowlers but there was no respite as de Kock creamed Wiese for 18 in the 9th over, a feat he repeated off Dinda in the 11th as the Daredevils steamed on. If the first wicket partnership came off 38 deliveries, the two left-handers needed just 30 to put on an identical 55 for the second. De Kock, who was looking ominous clattering three big sixes, two off Dinda, raced to his fifty off 30 deliveries before falling to a pre-meditated shot against Yuzvendra Chahal.
The leggie, who came on only in 12th over struck off his second delivery as de Kock ended up slicing a big hit and Kohli running back from cover took a well-judged catch before flinging the ball to the turf in a mixture of relief and frustration.Handily placed at 110/2 at the fall of de Kock’s wicket, the Daredevils lost steam between the 12th and 16th as they slipped to 141 for five with Yuvraj Singh, Kedar Jadhav and Angelo Mathews falling cheaply. Chahal, who went for 20 in the 14th over being clubbed for three sixes got his own back dismissing Yuvraj, who slammed it down Mitchell Starc’s throat before Duminy, realising that he was running out of partners, stepped up a couple of gears.
Even then the last five could fetch only 46 for Delhi with Duminy accounting for 32 as he added an unconquered 46 (28b) for the sixth with Saurabh Tiwary to set the Challengers a tough chase, which however was rained off.
Scorecard
Delhi Daredevils: Q. de Kock c Kohli b Chahal 69, S. Iyer c Gayle b Patel 20, JP Duminy (not out) 67, Yuvraj Singh c Starc b Chahal 11, K. Jadhav c Karthik b Patel 0, A. Mathews (run out) 1, S. Tiwary (not out) 13. Extras (lb3, w3) 6. Total (for five wickets in 20 overs) 187.
FoW: 1-55, 2-110, 3-137, 4-139, 5-141.
Bowling: Starc 4-0-35-0, Dinda 3-0-39-0, Patel 4-0-30-2, Wiese 4-0-39-0, Gayle 2-0-15-0, Chahal 3-0-26-2.
Royal Challengers Bangalore: V. Kohli (not out) 1, C. Gayle (not out) 1. Extras 0. Total (for no wickets in 1.1 overs) 2.
Bowling: Yadav 1-0-2-0, Zaheer 0.1-0-0-0.
Check out: Points table
Here are the team line-ups
#RCB XI: @imVkohli*, Gayle, Mandeep, AB, Karthik†, David Wiese, Sarfaraz, Yuzi, Dinda, Starc & Harshal #RCBvDD #PlayBold #RCBGoGreen #IPL
— Royal Challengers (@RCBTweets) May 17, 2015
DD XI: Q de Kock, S Iyer, JP Duminy, Y Singh, A Mathews, K Jadhav, S Tiwary, J Yadav, G Sandhu, Z Khan, S Nadeem
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) May 17, 2015
(Photo: BCCI)
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